THE WAY IT IS NOW: The Municipal Railway (Muni), a City
department governed by the Public Transportation Commission,
operates the City's transit system. Parking and Traffic is a
separate department under its own commission. Members of
these commissions can be removed by the Mayor at any time.

The Public Transportation Commission, through Muni's
General Manager, sets Muni's standards of operation. The
Board of Supervisors must approve fare increases and route
eliminations. Muni is funded as part of the City's overall budget,
receiving annual monies from the General Fund, which are set
by the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors.

Some City functions, such as purchasing, human resources,
and employee contract negotiations, are handled by centralized
city agencies rather than by each department.

Most employee contracts do not include performance bonuses.
The City Charter contains a Transit-First Policy, setting
priorities for the movement of people and goods in the City.

THE PROPOSAL: Proposition E is a Charter amendment that
would replace the Public Transportation Commission with a new
Municipal Transportation Agency. The Agency would operate
Muni and, beginning in 2002, the Department of Parking and
Traffic. The Board of Supervisors also could make the Taxi
Commission part of the Agency.

The Agency would be governed by a seven-member board of
directors appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Board of
Supervisors. Members would need particular qualifications to
serve on the board and could be removed only for cause. The
board would hire a director to administer the Agency. The Agency
would control its own operations, including purchasing and
contracting, subject to certain limitations.

Proposition E would set standards for performance and
service by Muni, including meeting 98.5 percent of its scheduled
service and having at least an 85 percent on-time record, with
the goal of full achievement of those standards by July 1, 2004.
Muni standards of compliance would be audited every two years.

The Agency would handle its own personnel and labor
relations. Muni employees such as drivers, dispatchers, and
mechanics would be designated "service-critical." The Agency
would negotiate directly with employee organizations for
"service-critical" positions. Tentative labor agreements would be
publicly disclosed 30 days prior to their approval. Contracts
would include performance bonuses for managers and
"service-critical" employees.

Proposition E would create a Municipal Transportation Fund
establishing a minimum annual contribution from the City's
General Fund. With certain exceptions, the Agency still would
be subject to the City's budget process. The Board of
Supervisors could reject, but not modify, the Agency's budget
by a two-thirds vote.

Proposition E would set rules for changes in Muni fares,
service, and routes. It would replace the Charter's existing
Transit-First Policy with a more detailed Transit-First Policy and
make it part of the City's General Plan. The measure also
would create a Citizens' Advisory Council for the Agency.

In my opinion, in and of itself, the proposed charter amendment
should not affect the cost of government.

The proposed amendment establishes a baseline level of
funding for the transportation agency which is equal to current
General Fund support and maintains the proportionate share
of city resources devoted to transportation in future years. It
also transfers certain duties and responsibilities from several
existing departments to the newly created Municipal
Transportation Agency along with the funding currently
provided for these duties.

For too many years, San Francisco's Municipal Railway has
been the public service its citizens most love to hate. What
should be the nation's best transit system is instead known for
late trains and buses, long delays in the tunnel, frequent
accidents, and dismal customer service. Lacking choices for
public transit, riders vote with their feet: San Franciscans have
abandoned Muni by the tens of thousands, and traffic in the City
is the worst it has ever been.

Last fall's "Muni Meltdown" was the last straw. Massive
delays in the subway, despite Muni's largest budget increase
ever, made it clear that Muni was out of control. Without fundamental
reform, Muni would be driven even further into the
ground.

So, fed-up transit riders developed this plan to reform the
Municipal Railway once and for all. The Board of Supervisors
worked with this coalition, managers, and labor representatives,
to craft a strong, comprehensive measure to make Muni
accountable again.

Proposition E creates a new Transportation Agency to run
the Municipal Railway free from political interference. It
establishes strong, enforceable service standards for Muni
operations, backing these up with required merit pay for workers
and managers. It establishes a protected budget for Muni,
while retaining oversight by the Board of Supervisors. And it
creates a coordinated transportation system by moving the
Department of Parking and Traffic into this agency in 2002.

Proposition E will make Muni much more reliable, by holding
managers and workers accountable for service delivered. It will
take strong steps to reduce traffic by finally making transit a real
alternative to the automobile, and it will ensure that Muni is fully
funded to meet the City's transit needs for years to come.

This legislation was authored by a downtown business group;
rescued by a grassroots transit riders group; and watered down
by Mayor Brown in backroom deals with the Transit Workers
Union. Our elected officials, most of whom are dependent on
union endorsements, votes, and campaign contributions, will
tell you that it's the best that we can do at this time.

MUNI has always been a political football. Proposition E
creates an independent transit board made up of political
appointees of the Mayor. The only way riders, drivers, and
taxpayers have any control over this board is through Mayor
Brown. Do you think he will be responsive to your concerns in
his final term?

I have been a building contractor and motorist in San Francisco
for 25 years. I now ride MUNI everyday and believe that the
400,000+ daily MUNI riders will elect the next mayor. It will
take only 60,000 voters to get a candidate into the runoff with
Brown and 110,000 votes, December 14th to elect a new Mayor.
If you are a MUNI rider or motorist, you can save yourself
4,000+ hours, waiting for a bus/train or sitting in traffic, by
carefully selecting your next mayor. He will fix MUNI and
reduce traffic congestion, not this legislation.

Is watered down MUNI reform better that no reform? You
decide!

For a vision of a 21st century transit system, read the Elected
Transit Board Charter Amendment that I authored, at
http://www.SFMayor.com, or call 826-6106

Jim Reid
San Francisco's next mayor?

I support an elected transit board.

The Mayor has compromised this legislation and it will only
be effective if we elect a new mayor who is dedicated to public
transit and appoints transit activists to the new board. If Brown
is re-elected and puts political appointees on the board, MUNI
will continue to be a second-class transit system. Riders, drivers,
& maintenance supervisors need to be on the board. As Mayor,
I will continue to ride MUNI daily and focus attention on the
problems until we solve them. Read my plan at
http://www.SFMayor.com

Everyone can agree that Muni service reached its all time low.
That is why a diverse group of interested people, including riders,
managers, labor representatives, planners, and commissioners
all joined forces to develop the best possible solution:
Proposition E.

Proposition E will streamline government by consolidating
two separate commissions involved in transportation planning -Parking
and Traffic and Muni - into a single Municipal
Transportation Agency. These two departments should work in a
coordinated fashion: under Proposition E, they will be united
under one agency. And, according to Controller Ed Harrington,
the costs of City government will not be affected by this change.

The seven member Board of the Municipal Transportation
Agency will not be political appointments, but must meet special
qualifications: significant knowledge or experience in government,
finance or labor relations; and more than half must be
regular Muni riders. Ensuring dedicated funding and skilled
persons to set the agency budget will result in increased accountability
for the service delivered. By allowing the Board of
Supervisors to maintain final say on any fare increase, we
maintain the goal of encouraging ridership.

Under Proposition E, Muni will have to set high, enforceable
standards for service and will finally be held accountable to its
goals.

Having just hired a new manager with extensive transportation
experience, Muni is moving in the right direction. Let's give
Muni management the tools it needs to succeed: VOTE YES ON
PROPOSITION E!